U.S. patent application number 13/155408 was filed with the patent office on 2011-12-08 for connector having floatable optical module.
This patent application is currently assigned to HON HAI PRECISION INDUSTRY CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to TING-YEN CHUANG, PIN-HAN KUO, HSIANG-CHI WEN, HUI-WEN YANG, YU-HUNG YEN.
Application Number | 20110299816 13/155408 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 45064529 |
Filed Date | 2011-12-08 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110299816 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
YEN; YU-HUNG ; et
al. |
December 8, 2011 |
CONNECTOR HAVING FLOATABLE OPTICAL MODULE
Abstract
A connector includes an insulating seat defining a receiving
cavity opening forwards, an optical module movably received in the
receiving cavity and an actuating device. The optical module
defines lenses at a front mating face thereof and a first touch
portion at a rear face thereof. The actuating device is located
behind the rear face of the optical module to urge the optical
module moving forwards. The actuating device includes a spring coil
and a connecting member defining a second touch portion which is
urged by the spring coil to contact with the first touch portion.
One of the first touch portion and the second touch portion
provides a vertex and the other provides a planar so as to arrive a
vertex-to-planar contact relationship between the first touch
portion and the second touch portion.
Inventors: |
YEN; YU-HUNG; (New Taipei,
TW) ; YANG; HUI-WEN; (New Taipei, TW) ; WEN;
HSIANG-CHI; (New Taipei, TW) ; CHUANG; TING-YEN;
(New Taipei, TW) ; KUO; PIN-HAN; (New Taipei,
TW) |
Assignee: |
HON HAI PRECISION INDUSTRY CO.,
LTD.
New Taipei
TW
|
Family ID: |
45064529 |
Appl. No.: |
13/155408 |
Filed: |
June 8, 2011 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
385/89 ;
385/88 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G02B 6/32 20130101; G02B
6/3817 20130101; G02B 6/3885 20130101; G02B 6/3821 20130101; G02B
6/3853 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
385/89 ;
385/88 |
International
Class: |
G02B 6/36 20060101
G02B006/36 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jun 8, 2010 |
TW |
99118619 |
Claims
1. A connector comprising: an insulating seat defines a receiving
cavity opening forwards and a receiving room at an opposite side of
the receiving cavity, a plurality of conductive terminals exposing
in the receiving room; an optical module movably received in the
receiving cavity along a front and rear direction, the optical
module defining lenses at a front mating face thereof and a first
touch portion at a rear face thereof; an actuating device located
behind the rear face of the optical module to urge the optical
module moving forwards, the actuating device comprising a spring
coil and a connecting member, the connecting member defining a
second touch portion which is urged by the spring coil to contact
with the first touch portion; wherein one of the first touch
portion and the second touch portion provides a vertex and the
other of the first touch portion and the second touch portion
provides a planar so as to achieve a vertex-to-planar contact
relationship between the first touch portion and the second touch
portion.
2. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the insulating seat
defines a positioning post extending towards the receiving cavity
and the spring coil connects with the positioning post.
3. The connector according to claim 2, wherein the optical module
defines a first connecting post projecting rearwards from the rear
face thereof, the first connecting post defines a circular convex
surface with a vertex at a rear free end thereof which forms said
first touch portion, the connecting member defines a planar front
free end thereof which forms said second touch portion.
4. The connector according to claim 3, wherein the connecting
member comprises a head and a second connecting post, the second
connecting post connects with the spring coil at another end
opposite to the first positioning post, the head defines said
planar front free end.
5. The connector according to claim 4, wherein one of the second
connecting post and the positioning post defines a hole to receive
the other of the first connecting post and the positioning
post.
6. The connector according to claim 2, wherein the optical module
defines a planar at the rear face thereof which functioned as the
first touch portion, the connecting member defines a convex
circular surface with a vertex at a front free end thereof which
forms said second touch portion.
7. The connector according to claim 6, wherein the connecting
member comprises a head and a second connecting post, the second
connecting post connects with the spring coil at another end
opposite to the first positioning post, the head defines said
convex circular surface at a front free end thereof.
8. The connector according to claim 7, wherein one of the second
connecting post and the positioning post defines a hole to receive
the other of the first connecting post and the positioning
post.
9. The connector according to claim 2, wherein the connecting
member is a ball.
10. A connector comprising: a receiving cavity receiving an optical
module, the optical module defining a mating port at a first face
thereof and a first touch portion at a second face opposite to the
first face; an actuating device biasing the optical module moving
in a mating direction along which a counter optical module is
inserted in the receiving cavity to couple with the optical module,
the actuating device comprising a spring coil and a connecting
member, the connecting member defining a second touch portion which
is urged by the spring coil to press against the first touch
portion; wherein the first touch portion and the second touch
portion achieve a vertex-to-planar contact relationship
therebetween.
11. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 10, wherein the
connector defines a positioning post to position the spring
coiling.
12. A connector comprising: an insulative housing defining a
receiving cavity; an optical module back and forth moveable in the
receiving cavity along a front-to-back direction and providing
lenses on a front end to define an optical mating port, and a first
touching portion on a rear portion; a plurality of fibers located
behind and linked to the optical module; an actuating device
essentially located behind the optical module and including a
spring equipped with a connecting member providing thereon and a
second touching portion which forwardly contacts the first touching
portion to constantly urge the optical module to move forward;
wherein one of the first touching portion and the second touching
portion defines a convex configuration and the other defines a
planar constantly contacting said convex configuration to commonly
form a point-to-plane contact therebetween.
13. The connector as claimed in claim 12, wherein the connecting
member is discrete from the spring.
14. The connector as claimed in claim 12, wherein the spring is a
coil spring.
15. The connector as claimed in claim 12, wherein there is only one
point-to-plane contact between the optical module and the actuating
device.
16. The connector as claimed in claim 15, wherein said only one
point-to-plane contact is located at a center line of the optical
module.
17. The connector as claimed in claim 12, wherein a retaining board
is assembled to the housing to cooperate with the housing for
holding the actuating device therebetween in a vertical direction
perpendicular to said front-to-back direction.
18. The connector as claimed in claim 12, wherein said housing
further defines an electrical mating port which is essentially at a
different level with regard to the optical mating port in a
vertical direction perpendicular to said front-to-back
direction.
19. The connector as claimed in claim 12, further including a
metallic shell enclosing the housing.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a connector, more
particularly to a connector having an optical module for
transmitting optical data.
[0003] 2. Description of Related Art
[0004] At present, Universal Serial BUS (USB) is a widely used
input/output interface adapted for many electronic devices, such as
personal computer and related peripherals. In 1994, Intel, HP, IBM,
NEC etc. together founded USB-IF to define a spec of USB. Nowadays,
USB-IF has published several editions for USB, and transmitting
rate of USB has became higher and higher. As development of
electronic industry, higher transmitting rate of USB based
connection accessory is needed.
[0005] An optical universal serial bus (OUSB) has been disclosed to
be adopted for optical data transmission. The OUSB includes a USB
connector with a number of lenses embedded in the USB connector and
further connected with respective fibers for transmitting optical
signal. Therefore, the OUSB can transmit signals up to 10 Gbps.
However, as the lens are fixed to the USB connector, and they may
fail to mate with counterparts if excessive clearance exits in
manufacturing process.
[0006] Hence, an improved connector with a floatable optical module
is desired to overcome the above problems.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] A connector comprises an insulating seat, an optical module
and an actuating device. The optical module defines a receiving
cavity opening forwards and a receiving room at an opposite side of
the receiving cavity and a plurality of conductive terminals
exposing in the receiving room. The optical module is movably
received in the receiving cavity along a front and rear direction,
which defines lenses at a front mating face thereof and a first
touch portion at a rear face thereof. The actuating device is
located behind the rear face of the optical module to urge the
optical module moving forwards. The actuating device comprises a
spring coil and a connecting member defining a second touch portion
which is urged by the spring coil to contact with the first touch
portion. One of the first touch portion and the second touch
portion provides a vertex and the other of the first touch portion
and the second touch portion provides a planar so as to arrive a
vertex-to-planar contact relationship between the first touch
portion and the second touch portion.
[0008] The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and
technical advantages of the present invention in order that the
detailed description of the invention that follows may be better
understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention
will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims
of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] For a more complete understanding of the present invention,
and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following
descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings,
in which:
[0010] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a connector according to a
first embodiment of the present invention;
[0011] FIG. 2 is a partially exploded perspective view of the
connector shown in FIG. 1;
[0012] FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of an insulating seat
and a first metal shell shown in FIG. 2;
[0013] FIG. 4 is a partially exploded perspective view of the
insulating seat shown in FIG. 3;
[0014] FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the insulating
seat shown in
[0015] FIG. 4 without a cover;
[0016] FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the insulating
seat shown in
[0017] FIG. 4 without a cover from another view;
[0018] FIG. 7 is similar to FIG. 5, showing an alternative
embodiment of the first embodiment;
[0019] FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of an insulating seat
of a second embodiment of the present invention;
[0020] FIG. 9 is an partially exploded perspective view of the
insulating seat shown in FIG. 8;
[0021] FIG. 10 is similar to FIG. 9, showing an alternative
embodiment of the second embodiment;
[0022] FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of an insulating
seat of a third embodiment of the present invention;
[0023] FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view of the insulating
seat shown in FIG. 11;
[0024] FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view of an insulating
seat of a forth embodiment of the present invention; and
[0025] FIGS. 14(a) and 14(b) are exploded perspective views of an
actuating device shown in FIG. 13.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0026] In the following description, numerous specific details are
set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the present
invention. However, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art
that the present invention may be practiced without such specific
details. For the most part, details concerning timing
considerations and the like have been omitted inasmuch as such
details are not necessary to obtain a complete understanding of the
present invention and are within the skills of persons of ordinary
skill in the relevant art.
[0027] Referring to FIGS. 1-3 showing a cable connector 100
according to the present invention of a first embodiment, the cable
connector is a plug of a USB connector cable assembly and includes
a plug mating end 101, a cable end 102 and insulating shell 103
between said two ends for protecting. A rectangular first metal
shell 21 encloses an insulating seat 11, wherein the seat are at a
lower face 111 located with an optical module 3 thereof to form a
first mating port and an actuating device 4 biasing the first
mating port to move in a front-and-back direction. Combination with
FIG. 6, the seat is at an upper surface 110 loaded with a plurality
of conductive terminals 19a, 19b. The first metal shell 21
enclosing the seat spaces away the upper surface 110 of the seat to
be configured with a rectangular receiving room 12 in which the
terminals 19a, 19b project to form a second mating port for
electrical connection. In this embodiment, the two rows of
terminals are compliable to USB 3.0 protocol, thereby the second
mating end is compliable to USB standard. The optical module 3 is
located under the receiving room 12 separated from the receiving
room by the seat 11. A front half of the first metal shell 21
encloses the seat and a rear half of the first metal shell is
adapted for covering optical fibers. A second metal shell 22
encloses a bottom face of the seat, thereby in combination with the
first metal shell shielding transmission signals therein. The
second metal shell 22 bend two barbs 221 from a front edge thereof
and a notch disposed in said two barbs 221. The barbs are retained
in corresponding openings 211 defined on the first metal shell 21.
The notch 222 are retained with a barb 212 defined on the first
metal shell 21. The second metal shell defines a cable retaining
wing 223 at a rear edge thereof.
[0028] Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the seat defines a receiving
cavity 13 at a front of the lower surface 111 which separates from
the terminals to receive the optical module 3 at a front thereof.
The optical module 3 includes lenses 31 at a front mating surface
301, which at a rear edge thereof connect with optical fiber cables
32 received in the grooves 113 in the lower surface of the seat.
The actuating device 4 is received in a rear of the receiving
cavity 13 behind the optical module. A retaining board 5 is
disposed to limit the actuating device in the upper to lower
direction, wherein a pair of short post 51 best shown in FIG. 6 are
inserted in and retained in the holes 114 and a slot 52 are used
for spring coil 41. The short posts 51 define a pair of rib 511 at
an outer periphery to increase interference with the holes.
[0029] The receiving cavity 13 is larger than the optical module 3
in the front-and-rear direction, so the optical module can move in
the front-and-rear direction. In a free or original statute no
exterior force exerted on the lenses, the optical module is
forwardly biased so as to be in a front-most of the receiving
cavity 13 by the actuating device 4 and limited by the V-shape
notch 33 of the lens being lodged against a boss 131 projecting
upright from a bottom of the receiving cavity 13 so as to prevent
the optical module 4 forwardly separating from the receiving cavity
13. When the optical module 3 is mated with a counter optical
module, the optical module is driven to inwardly move wherein a
rear face 302 are blocked against the inside rear wall 132 of the
receiving cavity 13. The counter module also will partially slide
in the receiving cavity 13 to increase alignment of said two
modules. The actuating device 4 will be introduced hereinafter.
[0030] The optical module 4 project a first connecting post 34 from
a middle position of the rear face 302 thereof. The first
connecting post defines a convex circular surface 341 such as a
hemi-sphere at a front free end thereof which is functioned as a
first touch portion. The convex circular surface 341 has a vertex
at a rear most thereof. The seat defines a recess 14 near to the
receiving cavity 13 at the lower surface 111 and a positioning post
15 forwardly extending from a forward inside wall of the recess 14
in the front and rear direction. The positioning post 15 does not
arrive to the inside rear face 132 of the receiving cavity. The
recess 14 is shaped with semi-cylinder inside face. A spring coil
41 is set in the recess 14 and connects with the positioning post
15 at one end thereof. A connecting member 42 includes a large head
422 and a cylinder second connecting post 421. The head 422 is
constructed with a plane top face 423 which is functioned as a
second touch portion. The second connecting post 421 connects with
another end of the spring coil 41. The spring coil 41 and the
connecting member 42 are commonly formed as said actuating device.
As best shown in FIG. 4, the first touch portion is just pressed
against a second touch portion biasing by the spring coil 41 to
arrive a contact relationship of the actuating device and the
optical module. The elastic force of the spring coil 41 pushes the
optical module 3 to separate from the inside rear face 132 of the
receiving cavity with a distance which is called said original
statute. In response to the optical module 3 shifted rearward by
the counter optical module, the first touch portion pressing
against the second touch portion 423 urge the spring coil 41
rearwards move so that the optical module has forward moving
tendency. Please notes, the spring coil 41 is just slidingly
located in the recess 14 to arrive an only front-and-rear shift.
The inside walls 141 at two side of the positioning post 15 benefit
the spring coiling in the positioning post.
[0031] As aforementioned, a vertex-planar contact pattern of the
first and the second touch portion is formed to decrease lateral
decomposed forces, thereby avoiding undesired skew of the optical
module 3. A small skew of the first connecting post 34 also will be
revised by the spring coil 41. Combination with FIG. 3, the forward
slot 52 of the retaining board 5 allows the spring coil shift
therein with no inference or a small interfere. The dimension of
the second connecting post 421 and the positioning post 15 along
the front and rear direction should match spring coil 41.
[0032] FIG. 7 shows an approximate embodiment of the first
embodiment. The second connecting post 421 of the actuating device
4 becomes smaller, while the positioning post 151 becomes larger to
define a hole 151 to receive the second connecting post 421,
thereby arriving a fitly connection between second connecting post,
spring coil and the positioning post. The second connecting post
421 slides in the holes 151 in the front and rear direction.
Alternatively, the second connecting post can designed larger to
define said hole 151 which is inserted with a smaller positioning
post 421.
[0033] Other embodiments will be given hereinafter wherein same
constructs will omit.
[0034] FIGS. 8 and 9 show a second embodiment of the present
invention. The rear face 302 of optical module 3 is shaped in a
planar and provides a first touch portion. The head 422 of the
connecting member 42 is shaped with a circular surface 423 at a
front free end thereof which is functioned as a second touch
portion. The second touch portion has a vertex at a front most
thereof. Therefore, a vertex-to-planar contact relationship is
formed by the optical module 3 and the actuating device 4. The
spring coil 41 is engaged with the second connecting post 421 and
the positioning post 15 at two ends thereof.
[0035] FIG. 10 shows an approximate embodiment of the second
embodiment. The second connecting post 421 becomes larger so that
the second connecting post 421 is same to the head in diameter. The
enlarged second connecting post opens a hole 4211 to be inserted
with the positioning post 15. Besides the circular surface, the
second touch portion can be formed by a cone or dimples projecting
from a planar surface.
[0036] Referring to FIGS. 11 and 12 showing a third embodiment of
the present invention, the connecting member 43 is construed with a
ball which is located at one end of the spring coil 41. An opposite
side of the ball to a position connecting with the spring coil
provides a second touch portion 433. The rear face 302 of the
optical module 3 provides a first touch portion. Therefore, a
vertex-to-planar contact relationship also is formed. The receiving
cavity 13 defines a recessed groove 133 at a bottom face thereof to
accommodate with parts of the ball to limit the ball's
movement.
[0037] Referring to FIGS. 13 and 14a, 14b showing a forth
embodiment of the present invention. The rear face 302 of the
optical module project a cylinder second connecting post 34 which
has a concave circular surface 345 at free end. The a concave
circular surface 345 is functioned as a first touch portion. The
head 422 of the connecting member 42 has a convex circular surface
423 which is functioned as a second touch portion 4221. Therefore
the first touch portion and the second touch portion is constructed
with face-to-face contact pattern. A multi-direction contact
relationship is formed between the optical module and the actuating
device through the face-to-face contact. The multi-direction
contact also can decrease lateral decomposed forces, thereby
avoiding undesired skew of the optical module 3.
[0038] It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous,
characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been
set fourth in the foregoing description, together with details of
the structure and function of the invention, the disclosed is
illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in
matters of number, shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the
principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the
broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are
expressed.
* * * * *